Oxford, England, United Kingdom
I bridge the gap between sustainable innovations and real-world impact for the communities they serve. I'm passionate about human connections, and thrive at helping mission-led teams achieve their goals. 🟦 CORE EXPERTISE ◆ Ecosystem leadership: navigating complex stakeholder landscapes like the University of Oxford & regional innovation landscape - driving value for entrepreneurs. ◆ Data & insights: I use engagement data and feedback loops to identify opportunities and optimise experience deliveries. ◆ Founder support: I help start-up founders clarify their goals, engagement strategies, and unlock key partnerships. 🟦 KEY IMPACTS ✅ Scalability: Supported Coactive.AI from Seed to $44m Series B, securing partnerships with AWS and Microsoft and scaling community via global events. ✅ Local outcomes: delivered record-breaking engagement for the Oxford Chamber Music 25th Anniversary through data-informed ticketing and local business partnerships. ✅ International outcomes: represented major NGOs at COP26, successfully driving policy change and building international corporate partnerships. 🟦 WHY WORK WITH ME? I excel at building vibrant, entrepreneurial communities and translating innovations into impact. Check out my recent testimonials below, or hit me up at [email protected]
◆ Building relationships across the Oxford innovation ecosystem ◆ Delivering a data-driven strategy for cross-channel communications and community engagement ◆ Owning the feedback and insights loop; understanding the needs of internal and external clients and helping colleagues optimise engagements ◆ Spotting and delivering opportunities for partnerships and collaborations to strengthen the organisation’s strategic position internationally and regionally ◆ Translating complex innovations into powerful narratives for public and policy audiences (e.g. solutions for affordable housing, epilepsy breakthroughs, med tech & climate tech spin-outs) ◆ Improving consistency of brand delivery across community touch-points ◆ Building media relationships & an Oxford-UK regional innovation network, supporting public-private innovation initiatives
Recent clients include: 📍Hatch Enterprise London: Start-up Accelerator 🚀 "Marcus's experience, knowledge, and delivery style makes our Accelerator sessions so engaging, with glowing feedback from our cohort of Founders. Recommend ⭐" -- Felix Adisa Jackson, Accelerator Programme Manager ➣ Delivering masterclasses on impact storytelling: upskilling founders in tailoring outreach and engagement ➣ Coaching and mentoring accelerator cohorts in strategic prioritisation, business development, partnership strategies, and brand positioning 📍Oxford Chamber Music: 25th Anniversary Festival "Marcus is one of the best problem solvers I have ever encountered." -- Priya Mitchell, Festival Founder ➣ Fractional partnerships & community engagement manager. ➣ Managed face-to-face community engagement, successfully onboarding new patrons and reactivating historic donors. ➣ Built funding partnerships pipeline with local and regional businesses including Microsoft. ➣ Used past performance data to inform ticketing and sales strategies, successfully driving record ticket sales ➣ Regularly briefed the Founder and Board on strategic priorities, and built excellent working relationships with key delivery partners. ➣ Devised impactful content strategy and managed social and web teams 📍 Coactive AI (Californian machine learning start-up) ➣ Built content production processes at a fast-scaling AI start-up (Coactive.AI), supporting strategic B2B campaigns from seed to $44m Series B stage, across inclusive hiring, product launches, and research publications ➣ Helped secure partnerships with AWS, Microsoft, Warner Bros, and clients like NBC Universal and Thompson Reuters ➣ Represented the organisation at strategic partnership events (IBC Amsterdam, DIAL Fellowship) ➣ Scaled community engagement through hybrid events including hackathons, conferences, and founder fireside chats
Leading strategic business development initiatives to upskill major corporates in sustainability, driving growth and impact through integrated communications strategies. ➡️ Strategic communications leadership & pipeline generation: spearheading B2B business development and account-based marketing (ABM) strategies to cultivate a robust sales pipeline through impactful communication and execution ➡️ Brand & content orchestration: directing the creation of compelling, brand-aligned sales assets and internal briefings, ensuring cohesive external messaging and enabling cross-functional collaboration with internal and external partners (e.g., CUP&A, 2U/EdX, GetSmarter) ➡️ Team & stakeholder engagement: building and leading a new, high-performing team within a rapidly expanding department, fostering a culture of professional development and agile practices. Additionally, owning and facilitating the stakeholder communication strategy across industry partners, internal teams, and external clients (e.g., facilitating the City Climate Leaders workshops to co-create decarbonisation strategies) ➡️ Market intelligence & narrative development: overseeing the team's marketing and corporate relations strategy, leveraging market research to identify core audience needs, and equipping colleagues with impactful narratives to drive cross-pollination of opportunities
As a super-connector of people and ideas, I excel at engaging diverse communities and making vital research accessible: ➡️ Designed and executed community engagement campaigns for a global network of 40,000+ leaders and change-makers, driving adoption of CISL's theory of change through accessible materials ➡️ Facilitated in-person workshops and events for local community groups, business and policy leaders, shaping the local City Climate Leaders group's decarbonisation plan ➡️ Produced and promoted compelling content across channels, including videos, blogs, and reports, and thought-leadership publications, making CISL's research accessible in new and engaging ways ➡️ Analysed and reported key engagement and impact data from across campaigns, providing actionable insights for strategic network development, and leading the Community Team's digital transformation, enabling precise audience segmentation and tailored outreach for future campaigns
We empower socially responsible businesses to grow through strategic communications and sustainability upskilling. ➡️ Strategic Capability Building: Equipping leadership with the insights and tools to integrate sustainable models that drive both environmental impact and operational efficiency. ➡️ Engagement & Empowerment: Designing and delivering impactful workshops and webinars that inspire and motivate broader teams, fostering a culture of sustainability from within. ➡️ Authentic Narrative Development: Crafting compelling, evidence-based content strategies and stories that genuinely resonate with stakeholders and effectively differentiate your brand in a crowded market.
🌿At #COP26 I secured international media coverage for ProVeg's "Diet Change Not Climate Change" campaign by delivering live interviews, documentary appearances, and successfully pitching the campaign to international press. I networked extensively throughout the Blue Zone - lobbying delegates for urgent food system reform, and successfully strengthening ProVeg's network of international partners to deliver their sustainable School Plates campaign. 🌿My work raised awareness of the urgent need for reform of the global food system in order to meet international climate and nature targets. This helped pave the way for the first Food Pavillion in COP history, at COP27. 🌿On behalf of ProVeg I conducted extensive industry research, interviewing C-suite experts from over 60 international giants in food production, R&D, retail, and food services. I produced industry-leading whitepapers, outlining best-practice strategies for food sector businesses seeking to transition to profitable, sustainable operations. Partners included Carrefour, Aldi, Lidl, Coop, Beyond Meat, ABInBev, ABP, Upfield, and Doehler. I led a pioneering report entitled "Famers' Voices", in which I consulted unions and industry leaders representing over 300,000 farms worldwide and identified key economic and technological models needed for a just transition. 🌿Developed communications assets (anchor content like whitepapers) and oversaw repurposing across social media, web design, video, blog, email 🌿 Communicating research to non-technical audiences – adding new value for B2B clients by combining quantitative insights with exclusive qualitative interview content, and using impact storytelling to make alternative proteins research accessible 🌿 Managing team and contractor deliverables – overseeing quality assurance and campaign timelines, standardising KPI reporting to track campaign impact across nine countries